


A Good Reality Check

by FMPtrumpets



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Good Severus Snape, Hogwarts Fourth Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28756659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FMPtrumpets/pseuds/FMPtrumpets
Summary: "It's time you got a reality check." Harry said. "Reality check?" "Yes... into just what it is to be me." In which Harry is sick and tired of Ron's constant jealousy. Of course, things don't always go quite as planned. This time, though... that's a good thing.
Relationships: Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Fred Weasley & George Weasley & Ron Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Beginnings of a Plan

**Author's Note:**

> The timeline may be a little skewed from cannon. Tough, this is my fic. I just don't own the characters...  
> Ron is going to be almost excessively self-absorbed in this, compared to cannon. He hasn't yet figured out how to grow up, like he didn't really start growing up until after the first task in cannon.  
> Dumbledore is obsessed with his Greater Good and has been held up on a pedestal too long, but is not evil.  
> There will be Ron and Hogwarts staff bashing, Ron will eventually grow up, the staff... well, who knows.

Harry sighed and glanced down the table at where his best friend was sitting, talking and laughing with Dean and Seamus. He was getting sick and tired of how he constantly had to tiptoe around Ron all the time, especially when it came to him being famous or having money. Sick and tired of having half of his support system constantly going AWOL on him. Sometimes right when he needed it the most.

And now, with this whole Triwizard thing, it looked like this might be the permanent end of their   
friendship.

(This stupid Tournament had served to be the catalyst that made a lot of people in this castle start to express feelings and such that had obviously been stewing for a while. He knew this Tournament would be nothing but trouble.)

Harry didn't want that to happen, Ron was the first friend he'd ever had, they'd gone through so much together over the years, he didn't want to lose that. But at the same time, after this latest shunning by the redhead, could they ever go back to what they were? And even if they did, would their friendship survive something like this again?

The answer was obvious to him, it wouldn't. He would do what he could to preserve their friendship, but sometimes things were just out of his control. Ron's temper and jealousy was one of them.  
He frowned as he got a sudden idea. What if there was a way to bring Ron's jealousy under control...? Yeah, that might work... there were just a few things he was going to have to get ahold of. And he knew exactly how to do that, he thought, turning to watch the twins.

Fred and George stiffened when they felt they were being watched, and almost visibly gulped when they looked around, and right into the scheming eyes of one Harry Potter. They glanced at each other, and then looked back at him. This could either be very good, or extremely bad.


	2. The Project

Fred and George watched, and supervised, but they also did some creating of their own. They'd already created the variant of the Glamour to hide the appearance of a wand. They been shocked when they couldn't find anything like it in the books, which could only mean that it hadn't been done yet. And they couldn't believe that it hadn't been created before. Unless it had and the person that did it never published it. Or, the Ministry was keeping that information quiet for some reason or other. Now they were working on a... more personal project.

They'd gotten a hold of a potions bag, and were working on spelling it to their own specifications. These already came with preservation charms to extend the shelf life of the potions for as long as was safe, and charms to ensure shrinking the bag wouldn't negatively affect the potions within, now they were adding stuff that somebody in Harry's position would find useful. Of course, it would take a little blood magic of the Goblin variety by the time they were done. Good thing Bill had been accommodating when they wrote him and explained what they were doing, especially when they promised to burn the information he sent after they were done with it and never share it. He himself had to get permission from the Goblins before sending it to them, and if they didn't destroy it, he would be held liable.

Oddly enough, the Goblins also sent their own message through Bill, that they wanted to see Harry as soon as Christmas Break started and he could get away from the school. They'd passed on the message, but Harry had been just as confused as them. He'd never gotten mail from Gringotts before, but surely they had post owls of their own, why would they be getting in contact via Bill? It was very odd.

The Blood magic they were doing would mean that only Harry could get into it, and Harry could summon it from wherever he was, even if he was without his wand. Blood was a powerful thing... This would prove especially useful when Harry was sent back to the Dursley's at the end of the school year. They didn't know whether or not Harry's school things were still being locked away where he couldn't get them, but this would ensure that he could at least access some potions. And, they would add a hidden expanded side pocket to it, so he could hide his wand, Cloak, Gringotts key... whatever he needed in it. Now if they were taken from him, all he had to do was summon this, and he would have everything he needed. Especially since the Twins planned on filling it with Nutrient Potions and the like. And food, can't forget the food. It would make a good Christmas present at least.

Which meant that they'd had to get a small vial of Harry's blood without him being aware of what they were doing. Harry either didn't know just how powerful blood could be, or he trusted them A LOT. With his entire being, a lot. It was kind of humbling, actually. To be shown such trust, whether Harry knew it or not. On that note, they'd already messaged Bill about it, and he'd promised to send them some books about a few things, mostly wizard tradition. But also about the various uses blood could be put towards. And why you should never be so quick to give it away. So, part of the present would really be from Bill.

They'd already snuck a diagnostic spell towards Harry's eyes, and then towards his glasses, they then sent the results off to a cousin of there's who worked for a Healer who specialized in vision. They'd also sent off a copy of Harry's glasses they'd Gemino'd for him (and resized to fit his face) so they could get a pair back that actually fit him. Now, they just had to wait for their cousin to get back to them, hopefully with a new pair of glasses. They'd been shocked to realize that Harry's eyes, and his prescription, did not match up. AT ALL.

They also couldn't help but wonder why nobody noticed before now that Harry could barely see. Of course, they hadn't noticed before now, either. And they only noticed because they were supervising him while he made a complex potion. They'd been quite alarmed to see him squinting at the book, and at the scales while he weighed his ingredients, and at the ingredient he was cutting up... no wonder he had so much trouble in potions class. Between Snape and not even being able to see what he was doing... Ah, that problem would be solved when his new glasses came. They couldn't exactly afford it, but they'd promised their cousin that they would pay him back, so for now he was covering the cost.

(Ludo Bagman short-changing them of their winnings after the World Cup didn't help matters, either. But, they'd mentioned it to Bill, who wrote back about Bagman's current and ongoing financial problems with the Goblins. He'd also told them that Bagman owed his little brothers money as well, and they were not happy that they weren't the only ones Bagman was trying to skip out on. They promised that the Twins would get their money... They took matters with money and debts very seriously.)

They did send along a 'first payment', though, with some of what they'd managed to get back during the school term. Selling product to the student body of Hogwarts was such a financially rewarding pastime. Their mother destroying most of their stock had just been a set-back... luckily the majority of their stuff was stored here, at Hogwarts, and what she destroyed was merely what they'd made over the summer so far. Still, she managed to destroy quite a bit, and it took them a while to remember how they made everything that she destroyed, since she also destroyed their notes. Since then, they managed to spell their Master Journal and link it to another, lesser journal, so that if their notes got destroyed while they were at home again, everything would be safe at Hogwarts and it was just a matter of waiting for the school year to start.

They had realized that they never really spent any time with Harry. Just Harry, with nobody else around. Sure, they watched him, and watched out for him, just like they did any of their siblings. But, there were some things that you could only really notice when you spent time with somebody. It was only a day into supervising his efforts with this potion that they noticed his problems seeing, how could neither Ron or Hermione notice?

When the new glasses came, they would hold off on giving them to Harry until after this scheme was over, it would prove beneficial to what Harry was trying to do if their little brother had to deal with the exact same problems that Harry lived with daily. And that included not being able to see. After they were done with this, they would crash a Staff Meeting and complain about how none of them noticed Harry's vision problems and how they, the Twins, did their jobs for them. Again.

Ron wasn't the only one who was going to get a reality check by the time they were done.


	3. And So it Begins

Almost a month later, Harry was sitting in an abandoned classroom after breakfast, next to a cauldron, waiting for Fred and George to bring their idiot of a brother in. Luckily, the brewing of the Polyjuice had gone off without a hitch, since the First Task was soon, and he kind of wanted his best friend at his side for that, Hermione was great and all, but her idea of calming and relaxing activities to take his mind off things, was to study. And there was only so much of that he could take. And she was very good at cutting off his escape to the Quidditch pitch to go for a fly to clear his head.

Why couldn't she just understand that not everybody needed to know everything, or not everybody enjoyed studying? Especially not like she did.

Although, he was actually feeling pretty good about himself, right now. He had spent the past month brewing Polyjuice, on his own, with the Twins just supervising while they themselves came up with a special glamour so the whole thing wasn't given away when or if somebody recognized his and Ron's wands. Of course, they'd also had to step in and brew for him a few times when he'd been caught up in some 'prank' or other, causing him to spend a day or two in the Hospital Wing to recover. Being pushed down the stairs was not fun, and very painful. And, as an added bonus, he'd made enough to store in his trunk and keep on hand for emergencies, or if the staring and 'pranks' got to be too much, he could spend a few hours looking like somebody else without having to worry about being bumped into while under his Cloak and having it found out.

Harry looked up when the door creaked open and the Twins practically shoved their younger brother in, and smiled grimly, time for a little reality check.

It was a good thing the Twins managed to find out when the Wand Weighing Ceremony was, because he had been planning on doing this the next day, which was when that happened. He was not looking forward to whatever the newspapers managed to think up this time.

Ron took one look at him, sneered, and turned to leave. Only to find his way blocked by Fred and George, who looked oddly serious for once. He actually couldn't remember ever seeing them look this serious, in their lives, and decided that the look did not suit them at all. He scowled again and turned to face his once-best friend. "What's this about?" He asked curtly, not actually wanting to know. He could privately admit that he did, sort of miss him, but he wasn't about to go crawling back as if he was in the wrong.

"It's time you got a little reality check." Harry said, just as curt.

"Reality check?" Ron asked, incredulously.

"Yes. Reality check. Into just what it is to be me. Because you see, you seem to be under the impression that I have people eating out of the palm out of my hand, and that I enjoy being the famous Boy-Who-Lived." He paused, and watched Ron's sneering face for a moment with sorrow. "So, you get your wish. You get to spend the day, or two, depending on what you want, being me." He said. He really hoped that this would get him his best friend back. "Only those in this room know what will be going on, not even Hermione knows about this."

Ron could only blink in shock. Spend a day as Harry Potter? Oh, yeah, he would enjoy that. That would be amazing, aside from second year, with the whole Heir of Slytherin thing, Harry was popular, and everybody loved him. He could have everyone eating out of the palm of his hand! He honestly didn't know why Harry never took advantage of that, he had the student body just waiting and willing to serve him if he just said the word. He chose to ignore Snakes like Malfoy, they were all junior Death Eaters, so of course they wouldn't like Harry.

But wait, "How am I going to spend the day as you?" He asked with an eyebrow raised. In answer, Harry directed his attention to the cauldron beside him, filled with a familiar looking potion. He made a face, he hadn't wanted to ever see that potion again after taking it second year, it was beyond awful. But...

"We made enough for the both of us, for the next two days. With plenty left over, but I would rather save that for future emergencies, so do try not to waste any." Harry said quietly.

"What are we waiting for?" Ron asked, not really eager to drink Polyjuice again, but more than willing to play Harry for the day. He ignored the hurt that flashed across Harry's face with some difficulty, by reminding himself of Harry's cheating and selfishness. He didn't notice the dark looks on his twins brothers faces, or the pleading look Harry sent them.

After all, Harry felt that being him for a day would be more than enough punishment, and hopefully it would get him his best friend back, if not then he would know that this friendship was truly doomed to fail.

"Here," Harry said. Handing over the already prepared flask with one his hairs in it. "Remember, all you need is one mouthful, every hour, on the hour. Like I said, try not to waste it." Harry then picked up his own flask and held out his hand for the hair one of the twins plucked from Ron's head with no warning, earning himself a glare that he ignored. Harry dropped it in his own flask, and watched as it turned color. "Also, try not to let everyone see you, if you can, drink between classes, when your alone. If you want to end the day early, I totally understand." After all, whenever Harry was attacked (by both fans and enemies) in the corridors, it was only ever when he was alone. Which was why he tried to never be alone if he could help it, and why he knew the castle as well as he did, so he could escape.

Ron just nodded, irritated, and swallowed his first mouthful, doubling over when the potion started working. Luckily one of the twins caught the flask before it could hit the floor and spill everywhere. Like Harry said, they wanted to have as much as possible available for future emergencies. Some of it would go in Harry's Christmas present when they were done with it. They almost were, they just needed to add the side pocket and make it hidden. Maybe they could get Professor Flitwick's help with that, it was proving tricky to add, what with the other magics they'd put into it already. He could also probably recommend a few enchantments they'd overlooked. They didn't normally ask for help, but this was for Harry and his safety.

After the two were looking like the other, they switched clothes, and Ron took a moment to bask in wearing clothes that weren't hand-me-downs from his brothers. Although, the first thing that happened, was Harry had to grab Ron's hand and put his glasses in it, because the other boy wasn't used to operating without being able to see, so he couldn't tell when Harry was trying to hand them to him. Of course, it wasn't much better with the glasses than without. Harry's eyesight was truly awful.

Once Ron was wearing them, he was annoyed. "Ok, very funny. Where are your real glasses?" He asked, taking them off and holding them out for Harry to take. He thought it was a joke. Sure, he could tell who was who and all that with them, but he would never be able to see the board in class, and it would be hard to make out what the teachers were doing when they demonstrated wand movements.

"Those are my real glasses, Ron." Harry said simply. And refused to take them back.

"What, but, then how on earth can you see the Snitch, or the board in class? How am I supposed to see the board in class?" Ron asked, shocked. How on earth did Harry function like this? Why did he never get new glasses? These ones barely even fit his face. And it was Harry's face at the moment.

"Just do what you can." Harry said with a shrug. "It's what I do. And as for finding the Snitch..." Harry tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hmm... I mostly just look for the flash of gold, and if it's out in the middle of nowhere without any other blurs nearby, or if it's moving faster than the other blurs, then that's the Snitch." He explained.

"Here," Fred said, coming forward after a moment. "Get out your wands. George and I modified a glamour to hide your wands. That way, people don't ask 'Ron'," He pointed at the Polyjuiced Harry, "Why he has 'Harry's' wand." And he cast the simple glamour to disguise each others wands so that they matched up with the faces of the people holding them.

"And, Ron, when your done being Harry for the day, just come back here and wait for the Polyjuice to wear off. We already got a spare set of clothes for each of you," He handed each boy a set of their clothes, and watched as they switched bags, Harry only made sure to keep his Cloak with him. "Just make sure you let Harry know so there aren't two Ron Weasley's running around Hogwarts."

"And don't forget, use your own names in class if there's a quiz, just don't let the professor see it, or they'll think your either cheating or something's up." George said. They both nodded and left, Ron being careful with his now limited vision.

"I hope this works." Fred muttered to George.

"Yeah, so do I." They were silent for a moment before Fred looked at the time.

"Come on, let's get to class, I want to ask Professor Flitwick about the charms for those Headless Hats you thought of last night."

"Hm... I think we should hold off on that one, and just focus on potions for the Snackboxes for now."

"Hm, yeah... the Skiving Snackboxes are going to be a pain..." They glanced at each other, knowing that they were mostly just going to be a pain because they tended to test on themselves. Those were not going to be fun. Oh well, good business must sometimes call for sacrifice. Lots and lots of sacrifice... Of course, they would probably take them to the end of the year to get ready for human use, at least.

~AGRC~


	4. Ron's Day

Ron walked down the corridor towards class, almost skipping. When he finally reached one of the main corridors, full of other students, he started looking around importantly. Harry didn't like attention, and Ron could never understand why. Why did Harry not like it when people looked at him, when they looked at his achievements? People always looking at him in awe?

He basked in everyone watching him, finally getting attention. Of course, technically, Harry was getting the attention because that was who he looked like at the moment, but that was a moot point. He was still the one they were watching in awe.

Class went on like normal, although they had a short quiz, and he took the Twins advice and made sure Professor McGonagall didn't see the name when he handed it in, he didn't want his scores to go towards Harry, although Harry had always been better in class than him. But, still. He knew Harry would be having his own name, and the Professor would not be happy if there were two quizzes with Harry Potter's name on them. He would be the one getting in trouble when she cast a spell to see whose handwriting it was. That, and Harry's chicken-scratch handwriting was pretty distinctive.

And, of course, there were Draco Malfoy's taunts, but that was nothing new. So, he just ignored them like Harry always did (unless they said something about Harry's mother. But, Malfoy and his band of Slytherin's learned years ago, NEVER bring Harry's mother into it. Bad things would happen.), and like how Harry was always trying to get him to do.

He almost wished that Hermione deemed this to be a 'Ron' day, instead of a 'Harry' day. Since the Choosing Ceremony, she'd been going back and forth between him and Harry, one day she'd spend it with him, the next with Harry, and so on. She'd try and talk him into making up with Harry, and he assumed she did the same with Harry. She was always trying to explain that Harry didn't want fame, he didn't want to be in this tournament, and that Harry needed them both right now, which he always scoffed at. Who wouldn't want fame? Who wouldn't want the glory? Eventually though, she would drop it until the next day she spent with him and they'd continue on as they always did, except now it was two of them, instead of three.

So, she was here, thinking she was talking to Harry, when she was really talking to him. Great, he had no idea what she'd talked with Harry about the day before. And, Harry said that she didn't know about this switch. Well, she was smart, she'd probably figure it out eventually, hopefully she wouldn't raise too much of a fuss and give everything away. He wanted to enjoy today, not have everything blown early.

He happened to glance in Harry's direction, to see that he was sitting with Dean and Seamus, just like he himself had been for the last few weeks. He'd been a little shocked when he went to sit with them, only for them to get up and move away. He thought that they and Harry got along, they certainly did in the dorm room. Although, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Harry in the dorm since the Choosing. He knew that he at least slept in there, but he never saw him come in, never saw him leave. Ron was usually laughing and talking with Dean and Seamus, when he wasn't with the Twins, but Harry was sitting there, just listening to them talking with each other.

Ron felt his stomach jolt. Harry had a slight smile on his face, as if he was enjoying the conversation, Ron hadn't seen him smile like that in ages. Not since they got Harry from the Dursleys that summer for the World Cup. He certainly wasn't smiling after it.

Hermione saw his look and sighed. "If you would just go over and talk to him already, this is getting ridiculous, Harry. You know you miss him, but this will never be resolved if you don't talk to him."

Ron had a brief panic moment, what would Harry's answer have been? He went with what he knew he would want and answered as Harry. "He doesn't want to talk to me. And I don't miss him. Just drop it." At least it sounded like something Harry would say. Versus what he really wanted to say.

She sighed again, but said nothing. This was getting absolutely ridiculous. And did they really think she wouldn't notice that they switched for the day? She was their best friend, she knew full well that she was sitting next to Ron, he had a tendency to play with his quill when he was sitting still too long, while Harry bounced his leg and fidgeted with the leather bracelet Sirius sent him for his birthday. However, she was pretty sure she knew what Harry was up to, and, while she didn't agree with this (she felt like they could just talk it out), she also knew that Ron's jealousy had caused problems between them more than once.

And if this was what Harry felt must be done to get his best friend back, for good, than she would play along. While making sure that Ron didn't act too much like Ron and give himself away. She was just going to have to make sure she talked about stuff that she knew she'd talked about with Ron in the past, and didn't restart a conversation she'd had with Harry without Ron nearby.

She also needed to provide a little distraction whenever it was time for the next dose of Polyjuice. She wasn't worried about Harry finding somewhere isolated, if anybody knew how to get away from people, it was Harry. Although she was curious where Harry got the Polyjuice in the first place. She had a feeling the Twins were involved...

So, yes, Ron thought things were going well. Everyone was watching in awe as he passed, or so he thought.


	5. Harry's Day

Harry reached the classroom just in time to see Dean and Seamus get up to sit somewhere else, away from Ron, he was just in time to see the confusion cross his face.

He snorted. Of course Ron hadn't even noticed he wasn't even sleeping in the dorm anymore. He was either sleeping in the Hospital Wing these days because of those stupid 'pranks', or he was in a nice little abandoned classroom he'd found near the Tower. Dean and Seamus hadn't exactly been, ah... welcoming lately. Neville helped out by bringing him clothes if he couldn't get to the Tower to get them himself, usually if the other two were already awake and Harry hadn't been in yet to get his things for the day. Neville had also ensured that the two couldn't get in at his stuff, how, Harry had no idea, he was just glad he did.

(It involved use of the Longbottom House-Elves, they were quite willing to help ward Harry Potter's things. They'd been quite shocked and appalled that the Potter elves hadn't already done so. In fact, they'd promised to find said Potter elves and demand why they weren't serving their master. They had yet to get back to Neville concerning that. Although, the fact it was taking so long, told Neville that something was very, very wrong.)

Well, either way, if he was going to play Ron for the day, then he was going to have to sit with them, despite how things were between them at the moment.

It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, they didn't talk about him, so he didn't have to deal with pretending to insult himself. Which was good. It meant he could allow himself to relax and not have to worry about it, let himself enjoy human interaction as just another student.

Something he hadn't been able to do since the first week of school when he was five.

Hmmm... he may have to go ahead and brew even more Polyjuice than what he had, spend time outside class as somebody else. He would just have to figure out how to get some random Muggles hair. Maybe he should ask Sirius if he could do that? He'd think about it.

Of course... he could always take that offer... but Hogwarts was the closest he'd ever gotten to having a home. Did he want to leave it, just because of a fickle public and student body?

Currently he was also keeping an eye on Ron, he saw the self-important look on his face, and wasn't that weird? And he just knew that Ron was going to say the wrong thing to somebody, and get 'pranked'. Which would lead to the 'pranks' getting worse for Harry in the coming days. Well, he supposed that he did have the Twins keeping and extra eye out today, wouldn't want anybody deciding that today was the day they were going to put him 'in his place for good'. He had a feeling they were gearing towards that, but he also knew that the teachers would never do anything about it, even if he did have proof that something was going to happen.

He was pretty sure they knew exactly what was going on, despite how good students were at covering their tracks. Madam Pomfrey had to have said something to some of them, he'd been practically living in the Hospital Wing since Halloween, and it wasn't for stress induced breakdowns. He knew McGonagall at least knew...

By lunch time, he knew that Hermione figured out what he was doing, she probably knew as soon as she sat down by Ron. It wouldn't surprise him, she was their best friend, after all. If anybody knew their individual quirks, it would be her. He only hoped that she had the sense not to make a fuss and let it play out, that she would figure out what he was doing. He would probably catch an earful about it later on, though. Whenever Ron got like this, she always seemed to think that talking it out would be all it took. And maybe it was, for a short time. Until the next thing came up and Ron's jealous nature reared its head again.

Everything was going fine, Ron was experiencing just another day as Harry Potter, it wasn't one of the bad days. Although, he supposed that he should have probably taught the other boy that shield charm Sirius recommended he learn... no, then he wouldn't have known half the stuff Harry had to deal with.

He should have known it wouldn't last when he saw those seventh years follow Ron out of the Great Hall during lunch.

Eyes widening, he made his excuses and rushed out to an alcove where he could use the Map to track Ron's movements and find the Twins. Oh, how he had hoped this wouldn't be one of _those_ days.

~AGRC~

Fred and George did what they'd been doing since the Choosing, protecting 'Harry' as best they could. Unfortunately, they couldn't always be there. There was only so much they could do when it was three (plus Neville and Hermione occasionally) against an entire school of magical teenagers.

_Angry_ magical teenagers.

At the moment they were serving a lunchtime 'detention' with Snape, one that they most certainly did _not_ earn, hoping that nothing was happening to their little brother while they weren't there to try and buffer it.

They didn't want their brother getting hurt because Harry wanted to make a point, after all. They just hoped that today wouldn't be one of _those_ days.


	6. The Attack

By the time lunch came around, Ron was starting to get tired of the near constant whispers, and staring that followed him (Harry) all over the place. How had he not noticed it before? And then he started to notice something else. It wasn't just the Snakes that were taunting and teasing, it was _everybody_. There were maybe three people out of a crowd of thirty that weren't spewing hate of some kind for Harry. But, he brushed it off as them being on Cedric Diggory's side, as them being angry over the whole Triwizard thing. Even so, he didn't like this at all. How did Harry stand being watched all the time, how did he stand all this anger directed at him? He'd thought he'd seen the extent of how bad it could get, being at Harry's side. But he'd never seen this before.

And that was without the constant tripping hexes and jinxes being thrown his way. Some of them when he was at the top of the stairs! Didn't they know they could kill somebody like that? He now knew what Harry was always talking about when he said that you could kill or harm just as easily with Light magic as you could with Dark. Harry had asked once, years ago, what really constituted Dark and Light, the argument that followed ensured Harry didn't bring it up again. But, when this was over, he thought he just might bring that up again, and he thought he might actually listen this time.

Because Harry had a point. Dark was usually classified as magic used to harm or kill, while Light... well, wasn't. Light was good, you could never harm with it. Tripping jinxes were considered harmless Light spells. He'd almost been killed by at least three of them by now!

There were multiple times where they cast something else, something much more harmful. Something that Ron had laughed off when he'd heard Harry complaining about Sirius doing that same thing when he was in school. He'd laughed it off as just being a prank then, now he wasn't laughing about those spells being just 'prank' spells. There were several that, if he hadn't dodged, could have landed him in the Hospital Wing. Wait a minute, is that why Harry hadn't been in the dorm much these days? Because somebody put him in the Hospital Wing?!

None of this was what he thought it would be, where were Harry's adoring fans? Where were the well-wishers?

However, it was when he was on his way to Gryffindor Tower, where he left something he needed for his next class, where he truly realized the extent of it all. He found the 'adoring fans', and he didn't like them.

He didn't even see them coming. They came out of nowhere. He should have been more aware, what was Moody constantly saying? 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' Well, he just failed.

At least four seventh year Ravenclaws, and one Hufflepuff surrounded him before he could blink, and his arms were being held behind his back before he could draw his wand. The next thing he knew, his wand was being removed from his pocket.

"Heh, it's hard to get you alone, Potter. Always being followed by that Mudblood, Granger." The one in front sneered. He had no idea what their names were. But, he did know what they just called Hermione.

He began to struggle, trying to break free so he could punch this guys nose in, "Don't call Hermione...!" He didn't get any further than that, though, when he was hit with a Bone-Breaker curse. Yet another Light spell, it was actually used in Healing, being used to hurt somebody. That wasn't what he was thinking though, no, he was more focused on not screaming his head off at the sudden pain.

"Hmm, odd, you usually handle the pain better than this, Potter. Come to think of it, you're also near impossible to surprise like this, too." The leader mused while the others laughed around him. He absently sent out another curse, and watched while Ron's leg snapped this time. Then he smirked. "No Weasley's coming to save you this time, they're serving a nice little detention with Snape at the moment, courtesy of a few Sixth year friends of mine in Slytherin."

For a moment, Ron was confused while he tried to think past the pain. What Weasley's? Unless they were talking about the Twins? They had been following Harry almost everywhere the past few weeks, but he chalked that up to Prince Potter getting all the attention again, as usual.

Was this normal? How long had this been going on, _what_ was going on?

For now, all he could do was hope somebody came and helped, he tried to call for help, only to find himself silenced. "Tsk, tsk. My, my Potter, we must have got you on a bad day. Calling for help? You know nobody's going to come help you, otherwise you would have called for help before." He mocked. Ron glared at him through the pain.

He was stuck. He wasn't like Harry, he couldn't fight like a Muggle, he was helpless without his wand. Even if he could get free, then where was he going to go? His leg was broken.

"Oh, look at this boys, he's finally accepted that this is going to happen! If I'd known that, I would have broken his leg weeks ago to get him to stop fighting us." The leader sneered while the others all laughed.

All he could do was hope that Harry was keeping an eye out with his Map and would see that something was happening. He was helpless.

~AGRC~

Fred and George were shocked, along with Professor Snape, when the silvery Stag Patronus came sailing through the walls during their 'detention'. (More like Q&A session about Potions and their creation. What? The boys had fascinating minds, Snape thought it a pity that they put them to use for tricks and jokes instead of something more serious, but at the same time he was a little terrified of what they could do if they did decide to turn to more serious applications of their ideas. These two were a couple of mad, evil geniuses.)

Professor Snape was enraged that the Brat was even interrupting his 'detentions' with the Twins, and was set to go on a rant about spoiled little brats thinking they could do whatever they wanted, when the Stag delivered its message.

_"It's one of_ those _days. Ron is cornered by some seventh years on the fourth floor, close to the shortcut to the Tower. Bring Snape and Potions. I'll try and break it up."_ The Twins eyes went wide and they looked pleading at their (Don't tell McGonagall or the family) favorite professor.

Severus barely allowed himself time to wonder when Potter figured out how to send his Patronus as a message before he was already checking that he had his Potions bag on him (he did) and mentally reviewing his inventory while he made his way to the door so he could go see what was up with his infuriatingly lazy red-headed student. Seriously, why couldn't he be more like his brothers? He was always whining and complaining about being in their shadows, and yet he never did anything about it! Even the Twins weren't lazy, they just focused their attention elsewhere, on their pranks and future joke-shop.

"You can explain on the way!" He barked while he billowed out of his classroom, already alerting Minerva and Poppy that they may be needed on the fourth floor. It was clear the Twins knew what Potter meant when he said it was one of _those_ days. He was confused, what was going on that he didn't know about? He made sure to know everything that was going on with the Potter Brat, how else was he supposed to keep him safe and fulfill his Vow to Lily?

The Twins were relieved that he didn't seem to know what had been happening. That meant their favorite teacher hadn't been ignoring the suffering of their pseudo little brother, like they were pretty sure most of the staff were doing. Why else would they not have stepped in weeks ago? They certainly didn't seem to care about those POTTER STINKS badges that Malfoy made and 90% of the student body were now wearing. Yeah, way to give a good impression of your school to visiting schools. Ignoring the blatant bullying that was happening right in front of them. Several Durmstrang students had stepped in at some point or another to stop the physical bullying and 'pranks', and a few of the Beauxbatons girls had done the same.

Viktor Krum had been seen tearing off those badges and destroying them whenever he saw them, calling them disgraceful, and ripping into the students wearing them for how they treated one of their own. They just ignored him and put new badges back on after he was gone. Even Cedric Diggory had been heard trying to get them to take the badges off, they ignored him too.

Both schools had offered Harry a place in their temporary lodgings if he ever needed it.

And yet the Hogwarts staff did nothing. The Ministry staff who were sometimes seen wandering the halls, did nothing.

The Durmstrang students had spoken to their Headmaster and he said that if Harry ever wanted to completely transfer out of Hogwarts, he would be welcome at Durmstrang. Viktor even owled the Bulgarian Minister, and Harry was granted citizenship if he ever wanted to leave Britain altogether.

Still, none of the British Ministry officials noticed or seemed to care about what was happening right under their noses. Viktor had told them that his Ministry officials were disgusted by what Viktor and his classmates reported and were considering breaking off all treaties and shipping trades they had with the United Kingdom before reporting Hogwarts to the ICW Education Committee. If this was how they treated a citizen and student, especially one as well known as Harry Potter, then they wanted nothing to do with them.

Yes, Hogwarts was making a wonderful impression on the international stage. It was no longer a place of education, it was a place where bullies ran rampant.

While they jogged to keep up with their teachers long strides, Fred quickly explained what Harry had been trying to do with Ron, before George picked it up and explained what it meant for this to be one of _those_ days.

"Why have none of you come to a teacher and reported this?" Snape snarled while he picked up the pace.

Fred scoffed. "No offense, sir, but the teachers haven't exactly been making any effort to stop what they see right in front of them. If I had to guess, I would say that they are quietly supporting of it all."

"Besides, Harry's been practically living in the Hospital Wing since Halloween, and nobody has even questioned it. He hasn't slept in the Gryffindor dorms since then, either, and nobody said anything about that, either." George scowled. They decided that they would wait to mention the diagnostic on Harry's eyes and the steps Viktor had taken at the Staff Meeting they were planning on crashing. They were pretty sure it would happen sometime in the next week after they'd had a chance to talk to all the students involved.

Snape looked at them in disbelief. What? He would have called them liars, he would have known if Potter was spending so much time in the Hospital Wing, but he knew that the Weasley Twins didn't lie. They redirected, or insinuated. They did not lie. Especially not when it concerned their family and friends.

And for them to think the staff knew about all this happening? Just what on earth, why would they think that? If they knew something like this was happening, they would have stopped it! Although, he supposed that the staff were blatantly ignoring those buttons that Draco made. He thought with a grimace.

When they finally reached the fourth floor, it was to the sound of yelling and spell light. He grimaced and cast a wide Stunner at everyone in the corridor who was standing.

When the spell light cleared and the dust settled, they saw Harry crouched in the middle of a group of five students, Ravenclaw and one Hufflepuff, holding up a domed shield around himself and Ron, whose Polyjuice had worn off sometime after Harry showed up.

"Harry!" The Twins called, right when Minerva and Poppy showed up.

Harry looked up and they could see the relief in his eyes before he dropped the shield. "What the-, explain this now!" Minerva barked, immediately assuming Harry had been the cause of all the commotion. She inwardly sighed, he'd been causing so many fights these past few weeks, she'd already been considering disciplinary action, but he was dragging Ron Weasley into it now, too?

Poppy just threw her a dirty look and went to check on her patient along with Severus, inwardly relieved that it wasn't Harry this time, and then disgusted with herself that she was relieved it was somebody else. She'd been trying to tell Minerva for weeks now what was happening, but whenever she went to question the students, she always sided with them. Harry's physical appearance was working against him, that was for sure. Just like it did with Severus in class. Whenever something happened that wasn't Harry's fault, they assumed he was at fault because of how much he looked like James Potter.

And they all knew that James Potter would have been the one causing the trouble.

The Twins immediately bristled at her tone, and cast a look at Snape that said, 'see?'

"Minerva, perhaps it would be prudent to not run in accusing?" He asked her, looking up with his eyes narrowed. She narrowed her own eyes at him.

"Mr. Potter has been starting fights for weeks, and then trying to blame the students he attacked, claiming it was the other way around. Well, I am finished with it!" She proclaimed, and turned to a resigned and resentful Harry to deliver his punishment, when angry voices broke out.

"Harry hasn't been starting any fights! He's been being attacked out of nowhere! What kind of teacher are you, have you even bothered to ever check their wands?"

"Or do you just assume that he's a liar and a cheat like everybody else in this waste of a school?" The Twins shouted, enraged.

Severus's eyes widened. No wonder the Twins hadn't even bothered to report any of this to the teachers. Potter had told Minerva, and she did nothing about it except assume he was at fault. He hadn't even known this was happening, but even he would have done a thorough investigation before believing anybodies word. Perhaps because of it being Harry Potter involved.

The Twins sputtered for a moment, before turning calmly to Harry, who was staring at Minerva in resentment while holding Ron's good hand.

"Harry, go to the Durmstrang ship, it's technically Bulgarian soil, and you have citizenship there. Stay with them while we sort this out." They said icily, glaring at Minerva. They would not allow her to punish him when he was the victim, even if he wasn't the one being cursed this time.

Harry blinked at them before glancing at Ron again and nodding before he stood up to go. His glasses were handed to him as he went. The transformation had ended long ago, and therefore his eyesight had returned.

"Hold on, young man!" Minerva and Poppy shouted.

Poppy beat her to it when she continued. "Did you get hit with any spells?" She asked, concerned. Harry shook his head no, collected his dropped things, handed his wand to Poppy for them to check if they wanted, like he knew the Twins would force them to do, and left before Minerva could protest. Once he was out of sight, he slipped on his Cloak so he wasn't seen.


End file.
